The present invention relates to a connector, and more particularly to a swivel connector for connecting a phone cord to a handset to prevent the phone cord from becoming tangled.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are exploded perspective and sectional side view, respectively, of a conventional swivel connector. As shown, the conventional swivel connector mainly includes a receptacle 1, a circular disc 2, and a plug 3.
The receptacle 1 includes a generally half-oval shaped housing. A space is provided at one side of the housing for receiving a conductor holder 11 therein, so that a jack 13 is formed at an outer end of the receptacle 1 for a phone cord 62 to plug thereinto (see FIG. 3). An inner end of the receptacle 1 is diametrically widened to define an open space in which a plurality of spaced conducting springs 14 are fixedly arranged to each electrically contact at one end with a corresponding conductor 12 seated in the conductor holder 11.
A side surface of the circular disc 2 facing toward the receptacle 1 has a plurality of differently sized conducting rings 21 fixedly concentrically spaced thereon. The other side surface of the circular disc 2 has a plurality of conducting springs 22 arranged thereon such that each conducting spring 22 corresponds to and electrically contacts with one conducting ring 21 at opposite side of the circular disc 2.
The plug 3 is similar to a general phone cord plug. A rear end of the plug 3 that faces toward the receptacle 1 has a diametrically expanded circular wall 31 for rotatably setting in the open space of the receptacle 1. The circular wall 31 defines an inner space into which the circular disc 2 is fitted. A plurality of conducting strips 32 are arranged in the plug 3, such that each conducting strip 32 corresponds to and electrically contacts with one conducting spring 22 fixed on the circular disc 2. A washer 33 and a C-ring 34 are sequentially fixed around an outer periphery of the circular wall 31 to firmly locate the plug 3 in the open space of the receptacle 1.
In the above-described conventional swivel connector, it is the circular disc 2 that electrically connects the conducting strips 32 in the plug 3 to the conductors 12 in the jack 13 of the receptacle 1 for the swivel connector to provide the function of electrical connection. And, since the plug 3 is rotatably fitted in the receptacle 1, the jack 13 is allowed to rotate relative to the plug 3. Whereby when the plug 3 of the swivel connector is plugged into a jack 61 provided on a handset 6 and a plug 63 at a front end of the phone cord 62 is plugged into the jack 13 on the receptacle 1 of the swivel connector, as shown in FIG. 3, the cord 62 is allowed to rotate relative to the handset 6 without becoming tangled. However, following drawbacks are found in the above-described conventional swivel connector:
1. The receptacle 1 is dimensionally larger than the plug 3. When the plug 3 is plugged into the jack 61 on the handset 6, the receptacle 1 would inevitably contact with or even undesirably press against a telephone set 7, preventing the handset 6 from correctly locating on the telephone set 7. And, whenever a user hangs up the handset 6, the receptacle 1 tends to collide with the telephone set 7 and becomes damaged or causes poor electrical contact. The conventional swivel connector is therefore inconvenient for use and has shortened usable life. PA1 2. The jack 13 at one end of the receptacle 1 inclinedly extends into the receptacle 1 and tends to prevent the receptacle 1 and accordingly the cord 62 from smoothly rotating relative to the plug 3. The conventional swivel connector therefore has less effective swivel function. PA1 3. The jack 61 on the handset 6 usually has a depth that varies with telephones of different manufacturer. On the other hand, the plug 3 usually has a fixed length. There are times the plug 3 is either too short or too long compared to the depth of the jack 61. In the case of a too short plug 3, the swivel connector might completely lose its connection function. It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop an improved swivel connector that eliminates the drawbacks existing in the conventional swivel connector and can be plugged into a jack either on the handset 6 or on the telephone set 7.